Pearl's Beginning

Sails Away

Staring out at my town, I felt the same pain in my heart like I did the first time I ran away. The men's cheers filled my ears as they celebrated their rescue mission. Although I was relieved to be back on the ship, realisation had hit me. They knew my name and who I was with; I was on the navy's list of pirates. So why did I feel some sort of adrenaline with this danger?

Turning around, I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind."So, are we back on track?"

Mr Gibbs answered."Aye las, we be sailing in the right direction. Now that ye are both back, we can finally 'av an adventure." he smiled as he walked away.

"Great." I breathed out.

"You seem melancholy luv." Jack sauntered up to me."Are you not gracious that we rescued you?"

I ignored his last sentence."I've disappointed them again."

"Who? Your parents? I wouldn't dwell on it deary, you'll never have to see them again."

I glared at him before turning my head back out towards the sea."Thanks."

"You're welcome. Now come on, I haven't had any rum in the last few hours. I can hear her lonely, desperate cries as she calls to me."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Las, ye need to get up!" someone shook me fiercly.

My eyes shot open, grabbing onto the hands of the person."What's happening!?"

Mr Gibbs beamed down at me."We be on land now."

"Ok, ok, I'm getting up."

I tried to keep up with Mr Gibbs as he quickened his pace down the hallways of the lower decks. He seemed excited about something, wherever we had landed must have something valuable on it. Eventually, I had to start running, as my small legs could not match the big strides of Mr Gibbs. The warmth of the sun hit me when the doors to the upper deck opened and I saw that everyone else was assembled already.

"Hey, looks like sleeping beauty is finally awake." Lenny commented, making everyone turn to face me.

"You know that you just gave me a compliment?" I retorted, walking up to Tricks, Peter and Barvry though Lenny tried to walk up to me.

"Now is not the time to be fighting." Jack pushed us away from each other."Maybe later, it would be quite entertaining to see Miss Pearl kick your arse." the crew chuckled as Lenny sent another glare my way.

"So what's going on?" I asked Tricks as everyone went back to their business.

"Well, the captain still hasn't told us anything, but that doesn't make a difference. The place doesn't seem to be inhabited by anyone though we can't really be sure."

Looking out, I saw that it was a small island, covered in a huge rainforest, the bright colours reflecting in the clear, blue sea around it; white sand surrounded it, finishing off the dazzling picture in front of us. My mouth was agape, I couldn't believe that a place like this existed in this world. My mind and body urged me to jump off of the ship and get onto the amazing piece of land, explore every nook and cranny.

"Right lads," Jack brought everyone's attention back to him,"if I'm correct, which of course I am, this island holds something very special, a lot of gold."

The men all roared in happiness.

"As long as everyone does as they are told, we should be rich men by tonight."

Most of the crew climbed into the rowing boats hanging on the side of the ship, whilst others stayed to man it and be ready if anything goes wrong. We rowed away from the anchored Black Pearl, the sea being particularly calm today. Some men hopped out and started to pull the small boats when we were nearer to shore. After that, we all climbed out, awaiting further instructions.

"Right you lot, let's go." Jack simply said, wandering into the forest.

Everyone exchanged concerned looks as our captain just sauntered off, maybe even into danger. All of us readied our weapons before going in after our leader. We almost couldn't see him due to the huge leaves and trees which towers over us all, even the tallest of our crew would be hard to spot. Tricks had to hold onto my hand as I was the smallest of the group, and at one point, the others started to run into me as they couldn't see me. But as Jack made twists and turns, everyone started to lose focus. The bright, almost blinding colours of the rainforest started to annoy me, all I could see was green; what was once a beautiful piece of landscape had become my worst nightmare. I wanted to get out of this rainforest. At last, Jack stopped, causing us all to bump into each other.

"Jack, have we found it?" Mr Gibbs asked the question on all of our minds.

"Not exactly." Jack mumbled.

"What's wrong, captain?" Harvey asked.

"Well, you know how we thought this island didn't have anyone living on it?"

I sighed."Jack, please don't say it."

"It seems we have company."

Battle cries rang through the air as we spotted men hidden in the trees. They jumped down, instantly attacking the crew. Everyone fought back, defending themselves with swords and pistols. These men also had the same weapons, they looked like pirates themselves; perhaps they too were looking for the gold. One man grabbed my hair, kicking in the back of my knees to make me kneel. I swung my sword at him, slicing his thighs. He doubled over, reaching the same level as me. I punched him in the jaw, though it didn't effect him much. He was much stronger, pinning me to the floor, before punching me back. As he raised his fist again, a sword ripped through his chest, blood dying his clothing red as he slid off me, now dead. Harvey as revealed behind him, offering a hand to help me back onto my feet. However, someone shoved him which made me tumble backwards.

Instead of stabling myself though, I was suddenly knocked off of my feet once again but instead of hitting the ground, I was suspended up in the air. I was now stuck in a trap, swinging above the violence that ensued below me. My name was called out before everything went quiet. Our crew were now restrained. My limbs were tangled and I felt like a helpless animal. Peeking down, I saw some more men approach the fight, swinging their swords.

Who I presumed to be the leader, stepped forward and spoke."Seems we have some visitors. Let's show them what hospitality looks like."